Never Say Goodbye
by GoGoLexiRanger
Summary: Of the many things my mother taught me and told me before she died, the one that stands out the most to this day, is that I should never say goodbye. Kendall/OC, full summary inside. :
1. When We Were Children

Never Say Goodbye

summary:

**AU after Big Time Break Up**. Samantha "Manth" Summers, is a childhood friend of Kendall, his best friend from the time of his birth until she moved to Texas when they were seven. The one thing that Manth and Kendall shared the most as children was the love of music, writing silly songs together, and watching Power Rangers. After Kendall and Jo break up, Kendall falls into a rut that he can't seem to get out of. The BTR boys don't know what to do, so they call Manth, who happens to be planning to head to LA soon to try and get a record deal. It turns out that Manth is exactly what Kendall needs.

* * *

><p><span>1. When We Were Children<span>

Work had been long and hard today, and I was looking forward to snuggling up with some Ben & Jerry's and watching some TV. The only problem was, our TV was out. Dad had said he was going to get it fixed, but he had yet to call the cable company so they could come and fix it.

I scrounged around our DVD and video cabinet for a few minutes, trying to find something worth watching, by some miracle I stumbled across some old home videos, they were from when we still lived in Minnesota. I laughed at the labels on the tapes, Kendall and I had written them ourselves, and our handwriting was sloppy and messy. I didn't know about Kendall, but my handwriting had drastically improved since we had labeled them ten years ago. I grabbed the DVD labeled 'Kendall's sixth birthday, Manth's sixth birthday, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.' Our families had been so close when we lived in Minnesota, or parents had been best friends throughout high school and college, so Kendall and I grew up together.

I popped the DVD in, went and grabbed some Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia and a spoon, sat down on the couch and pressed the play button on the DVD player.

"How old are you turning today Kendall?" Jen asked her son on the old home video.

Kendall and I were running around the Knight's back yard in Minnesota, it was July, and it looked like it was incredibly hot out. Kendall and I were both in bathing suites and were running in and out of sprinklers, or we had been before Jen had caught our attention.

"I'm turning six Mommy." Kendall said with a toothy grin.

"I turn six in two weeks." I butted in sticking out my tongue at Kendall.

I remembered this scene as I watched it on the DVD. That was just the way that Kendall and I were, and always had been. Trying to one up each other in subtle ways, we had both behaved that way until Mom started to get sick, then it mellowed out a bit, and that was when we became closer than we had ever been. But when it came to birthdays, our behavior never changed. Kendall was born two weeks before me on July 25th. Our mom's had been pregnant together, Mom always ranted to Jen (Kendall's mom) about how she took the easy way out instead of waiting for her actual due date two days before my birthday, August 9th. Us joking about our ages and our birthdays was our one way of keeping normalcy when Mom got sick.

"Samantha Sabrina Summers, be nice." I heard Mom say sternly from the other side of the camera.

"Kendall, are you excited to turn six?" Jen asked her son.

"Yes Mommy, and Katie turns one a few days after Manth." Kendall answered his mom with a smile. Katie was sitting in a baby pool covered in floaties. I couldn't believe how little she was. It was hard to believe that she was now 11 years old.

This part of the tape continued for awhile, soon the image faded to black, and another image popped up. This one I recognized right away. It was my sixth birthday. Kendall and I were playing with the mini guitar that I had gotten for my birthday singing random gibberish songs.

"What are you singing Manth?" Dad asked me behind the camera. I always remembered my sixth birthday, it was the day that I got my first guitar, and it was the week before Mom officially got diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer.

"I'm singing a song that Kendall and I wrote daddy. Here listen." I said in my small six year old voice. I looked at Kendall and started playing wildly on the guitar.

"I love my mommy, and my daddy too, so won't you help me buckle my shoe." The two of us sang together loudly and obnoxiously.

Kendall and I continued to sing on the video tape, and I couldn't help but laugh at all of the random songs that Kendall and I had come up with when we were only six years old. There were however a few good lines, that I typed into my phone's notepad to keep for future use.

The scene faded to black once again and came back into few as Halloween of that same year. Kendall and I were both dressed as Power Rangers. I was the Pink Pterodactyl Ranger, and Kendall was the White Tiger Ranger. Looking back on it, I found the humor in the fact that I was the Pink Ranger and Kendall was the White Ranger, the characters that were those rangers were a couple, no wonder Jen, Mom, and Dad had taken so many pictures of us and put them everywhere that year.

"Hey Manth. How was work?" Dad asked as he entered the house, threw his keys in the boy and kissed my forehead.

"Hard and long. The music store was crazy today, there were kids coming in looking for instruments, and guitar lessons every ten minutes, and there was a kid who started his lessons on the drums today, he was horrible, my ears are still ringing." I laughed as Dad headed towards the kitchen.

After Mom had died, Dad and I moved from Minnesota to Texas. We now lived in a small town, in a two bedroom house that was five minutes away from everything, including Dad's work, down the street at our small town's even smaller newspaper. I hadn't seen Kendall, or any of the other guys (James, Carlos, and Logan) for years, but I still texted Kendall from time to time, and we all had each others numbers. Facebook is a wonderful tool.

"I'm sorry babe. I'm gonna order some Chinese, you want the usual right?" He asked me as he walked back into the family room with a carry out menu and the home phone.

"Yeah Dad, that's fine." I answered as I watched Kendall and I pose for a billion pictures and spread out our candy on the middle of the Knight's living room floor, in front of a TV that was playing some kid friendly Halloween movie.

"Alright, I gotcha. I will also call the cable company, we really need to get the TV fixed." Dad began with a laugh. "I actually need to get back to work on my story for work, when the guy comes to deliver the food just pay with the money in the jar, and come get me." Dad finished as he walked to the point that he was standing right over where I was sitting.

"Gotcha dad. Love you." I added and gave him a little almost upside down hug.

"Love you too Manth." He replied and headed upstairs with the phone to order our Chinese food.

I continued to watch the home videos. After much Halloween humor (involving Kendall and I singing many random childhood Halloween songs), the video switched to Thanksgiving. At first it just showed Kendall and I sitting with Mom watching the Macey's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. I watched in awe as Kendall and I commented on every single float, not just the ones that were made to appeal to six year-olds, the ones that were meant to apply to parents and teenagers.

My very generic ring tone rang as I watched the old home movies. No one should've been calling me, so I was confused, I looked down at my phone, and saw that of all people Logan Mitchell was calling. Logan and I had been friends when I still lived in Minnesota, from what I had gathered from Kendall's facebook, and his own facebook, Logan, Kendall, James, and Carlos were now inseparable.

"Logan?" I asked curiously as I answered the phone.

"Hey Manth." He replied courteously in the fashion that I remembered from Kindergarten and first grade.

"So, is there a reason that you are calling me?" I asked him curiously again.

"Yeah, Kendall just had to break up with his girlfriend, and he has been in a rut for the past month, his Birthday is coming up as you know, and we thought if there was one person on the face of this Earth that could get him out of it, it would be you. Is there anyway that you can come up to LA to visit?" Logan asked.

"Not really, not unless you can find some way to pay for all of it, and get my Dad to come to. I have a job, and he has a job, I can't really just up and leave, I am only sixteen years old." I replied. I paused the home video to make sure I wouldn't miss anything.

"Wait, I have an idea. Let me get back to you. Hold on a sec." Logan said and then hung up.

"That was really strange." I said to myself, all the while thinking, I hope Kendall is okay. While I was thinking about this the doorbell rang. I walked over to the door, paid JJ for the Chinese (he is always our carry out deliverer). I took my phone and the take out, and walked up stairs to Dad's office. "I've got the Chinese." I said with a smile as I handed him his boxes and chopsticks.

Dad and I started eating, joking, and talking about our days. This was our usual dinner bonding, take out, or some frozen dinner, eaten in Dad's office while he was haphazardly working on a story for the newspaper, talking about our days. Dad was in the middle of telling a story about how he had to track down an old lady for just about all day today to try and get a quote about a break in that happened three months ago, that he was doing a follow up story on, when my phone rang again. I looked down and saw that it was Logan.

"Go ahead Manth. Answer it. I'll wait." Dad said with a smile as he ate more of his fried rice.

"Hello again Logan." I answered.

"Hey. So I have something that might work, is your Dad there?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, we're eating dinner." I replied.

"Okay, can you put your phone on speaker, your Dad is going to want to hear all of this."

"Hold on a second." I said, putting my phone over the microphone and speaker of my phone. "Dad, it's Logan." I began, I quickly filled my Dad in on the situation, and he nodded saying he was ready to hear what Logan's master plan was. "Alright Logan, go for it." I said.

"Well, Kendall is a rut, and we were hoping that you could help him get out of it. However, as you mentioned you can't really just up and go to LA for a few weeks, so with a lot of begging and a little bit of pleading, we have established a plan that could work. You are still an aspiring singer/songwriter yeah?" Logan asked over the phone.

"Yeah, I have been since I got my first mini-guitar when I was six, and I have a bunch of videos on youtube." I answered.

"Good, I figured as much, Kendall still is the first one to comment and like everyone of your videos." Logan laughed.

Kendall and I may have drifted apart ever since I moved to Texas, but there were still certain things we always did, we always called each other at midnight on our Birthdays. Every Halloween we would text each other Power Ranger quotes, and every Christmas we still send each other presents.

"It turns out." Logan started up again. "That Roque Records, the actual owner of it, not our producer has been trying to get you on the label for quite awhile, so convinced our producer to offer you quite a deal. For the next three months, if you accept, Roque Records would like you to come and live in the Palm Woods Hotel, with other rising talent for three months to work on you're demo, if you're demo gets picked up then you can stay at the Palm Woods full time, and work on your CD. This way, you can follow your dream, and help Kendall." Logan finished.

I looked over at Dad before saying anything. Dad looked pleasantly surprised. "What do you think Daddy?" I asked him.

"Hey Logan. Can you give us a minute to discuss this please." Dad said into the phone.

"Sure Mr. Summers, I'll just wait on hold." Logan answered.

Dad clicked the hold button on my phone and then started to talk. "I think that this is a great opportunity for you Manth."

"I think it is too. But if we were to do it, what about your job? What about the house?" I asked him.

"We can easily rent the house out, and I am sure I can figure something out at work, maybe a blog or a column about risking everything to follow my daughter's dream." Dad said as he leaned over the table and kissed my forehead.

"So is that a yes?" I asked Dad curiously.

"Yes, it is most certainly a yes. Tell Logan to get this producer guy of his to fax us all of the contract information stuff, I'm going to go and call work." Dad answered.

"Thank you Daddy." I said with a huge smile giving him the biggest hug I could muster before he left the room. I clicked off the hold button and held my phone back up to my ear. "Logan. Are you still there?" I asked.

"Yeah. Did you guys reach a verdict?" Logan answered.

"Um yeah. Dad said yes. So I can come. He wants you to get your producer to fax all of the contract stuff to my house. I can text you the information."

"Okay great." Logan said. "Bye, I'll see you when you come."

"Bye."

* * *

><p><strong>an: so this is the first chapter of my latest BTR fic, if you read BTT at any point this is not related to it at all, and I just got the idea for this after watching Big Time Break Up. I hope y'all enjoyed! And REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**xoxo,**

**Lexi**


	2. Just What He Needs

2. Just What He Needs:

"I'm gonna go check in to the hotel sweetie, we don't have to be at Roque Records until tomorrow, why don't you go find Logan, and work on the whole getting Kendall out of his rut thing." Dad said with a smile as we entered the Palm Woods Hotel in LA a few days after Logan had called with the deal of a lifetime, as Dad and I were now calling it.

"That's a good idea Daddy. Can you text me what room we are in so I can join you later?" I asked him as I texted Logan on my phone, letting him know that I had arrived.

"Sure sweetie. Have fun, go do some Power Rangers sight seeing, tell Kendall I say hi." He listed. "I think after I unpack our stuff slightly, I am going to see if I can find Jen, and catch up with her." He finished. Giving me a hug and a kiss on the forehead before heading farther into the hotel at the check in station.

When Dad left, I clicked send on my phone, and the text message to Logan was making it's way to him. While I waited for Logan to text back I sat down at one of the couches that was in the hotel's lobby. I managed to glance my hair in a mirror before I sat down and I groaned slightly. I have dirty blonde curls, that usually look more like a beach-like waves than anything else, but today they had gone crazy. My hair looked exactly what people think of when they think of Texas, big pagenty hair, except mine was without the hairspray. My curls did not feel like cooperation this morning, or on the plane.

"Manth, is that you?" A voice said to me. I had been playing with my hair and not paying attention to anything that was going on around me.

I looked up and saw that it was much older, but recognizable because of Facebook Logan Mitchell. Logan was standing with Carlos Garcia, and James Diamond.

"You act like you haven't seen me in ten years." I said with a laugh as I stood up and greeted all three of them. "So where's Kendall?" I asked after exchanging pleasantries, and catching up a little bit.

"He's over by the pool. Are you ready for this?" Logan asked me slightly nervously.

"Hell yes. If there is one thing I can do, especially with my hair like this is shock him out of this rut, and if that doesn't work, I've got some tricks up my sleeve." I answered with a laugh as I pushed my curls up making them, if possible bigger.

After fluffing my hair, I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulders and stomped off to the pool to find Kendall. It took me a few moments and quite a few stares to find the pool. Once I did, I surveyed the chairs before seeing Kendall sitting in one. He was reading a hockey magazine, that made my job easier, he wouldn't see me before I started talking to him. Now that he was in my sights, getting to him was much easier. I stomped my way over to Kendall, and when I finally arrived at the edge of his pool chair, I stood their for a moment, studying what I could of him.

The first thing I noticed was that he was wearing a hat. Not a fedora or a baseball cap, but a beanie, or a skull cap, I can never remember what they are properly called. The second thing I noticed was he was wearing jeans. The boy was living in LA full time and he was wearing a hat and jeans, he was also wearing a flannel shirt which was slightly more acceptable but still frowned upon. I couldn't help but think that he was lucky that he didn't live in Texas, where everyone always wears shorts, even if it's cold out.

"Kendall, get up off of your ass right now. I just got to LA and I am going to go see where the hell Power Rangers was shot!" I said almost shouting to Kendall.

After I had said his name, Kendall had pulled the magazine down so he could see after that it was all shock. I could only imagine what was going through his head right now, this girl who he hadn't seen in person in years was here, standing right in front of him demanding things. But hey, that's what I did, well what I knew I needed to do to get him out of this stupid break up induced rut.

"Manth?" He asked first questioningly. Once he realized it was me, he looked slightly reassured that some random person wasn't yelling at him, and that it was actually someone that he knows. "What happened to your hair?"

"It is called a bad hair day, everyone has them. Now, we are going to see where Power Rangers was shot!" I shouted at him. "Don't give me that look, come on, get up." I said.

Kendall hesitantly stood up. I couldn't help but think of when the two of us were kids. Kendall would be sitting playing his video game, and I would march into his house and yell at him that I wanted to write a song, he would be hesitant at first, but he always ended up following my lead and doing what I wanted.

"You do know that Power Rangers was filmed in Australia and New Zealand, not LA right?" Kendall asked as we walked out of the pool area and into the lobby.

"Psh, incorrect information." I answered even though I knew Kendall was right.

"Manth, Power Rangers was shot in Australia." Kendall insisted.

"No it wasn't Kendall, it was shot in Valencia, California, IMDb told me." I replied as I stuck out my tongue at him.

"Yeah I have no idea where that is, so that's going to be a no." Kendall replied.

"Then show me LA! Good lord Kendall, I live in Texas, nothing exciting happens in Texas, show me LA!" I practically shouted at him.

* * *

><p>"Why are you here anyway?" Kendall asked me about an hour later.<p>

We had walked around LA, joking around and catching up, almost taking us back to old times, when we were seven and just hung out together at each others houses, we were almost back to the days where their were no secrets between us, it was nice just being with each other as friends again. It was nice to see him after all of these years and know that he had changed, but he hadn't changed all that much, when we were talking and walking around LA, I realized that he was still that goofy kid that I had grown up with, he just had a much more perverted sense of humor now, and he now admitted that he loves to sing.

"Well, I heard there was this girl, who my childhood best friend had to break up with her, because she is going to New Zealand for three years to shot a movie. The best friends of this childhood friend called me up to get this friend out of his rut, so here I am." I answered with a slight laugh as I looked out at the water.

Kendall and I were standing on one of the smaller boardwalks that can be found on one of the beaches in LA. I couldn't get over how beautiful and clear all the water was. The only beach-like place I had ever been to was the Gulf Of Mexico, which has amazingly clear water, but the water here was different somehow, and different in a way that I could not put my finger on.

"So you and your Dad just went for a spring of the moment vacation to LA? Manth, I may not have seen you for awhile, but I still know you and your Dad, both of you aren't the type of people to up and leave for a vacation without spending months planning it." Kendall began. "Plus, you talk about how you can't go on vacation all the time on Facebook because you can't take time off of your job, and neither can your Dad. So fess up, how exactly are you here?"

"I could tell you now, but I would much rather wait until tomorrow." I replied with a smirk. I knew that tomorrow Kendall would know exactly how I was here, and just how long I would be here. Right now I just wanted to reconnect, and rekindle or friendship even more than we already had.

"Manth." Kendall said seriously. Using the voice that he used when we were little to try and get me to tell him all of my secrets when I refused to.

"Let's go down on the beach!" I said as I put my hand over his on the railing and turned to him with a giddy and excited smile. "Come on, we've never been to the beach together, it'll be great." I added, letting go of his hand, dropping my backpack on the boardwalk, taking off my boots, putting them in the bag, and running down the stairs.

Soon I was on the beach, the sand felt so good between my toes, I couldn't wait to see how the water would feel. I ran down to it, it was the perfect temperature, and it made me feel in that moment

"We are in LA, you request sightseeing, and then we end up going straight to the beach, and you go straight to the water. Good to know that you are still a water bug." Kendall said with a laugh as he stood next to me.

"Couldn't change it if I tried." I replied with a laugh as I tried to tread into the water more.

"Now back to the topic at hand before someone decided to run off, how are you here?" Kendall added as he joined me in the water.

"Once again, I will tell you tomorrow." I replied.

"I will get it out of you!" Kendall shouted as he reached his hands out to start tickling me.

When we were little this was his go to way to get any information he needed to if I wouldn't straight out reveal it to him. I am and always have been immensely ticklish, which was a fact that Kendall happened to remember, and was now exploiting.

"No! I will not give in!" I shouted as I started to run away from Kendall.

Kendall chased me across the beach for awhile, whenever he got close I managed to get away somehow. After minutes, and minutes, and minutes of Kendall chasing me he finally caught me. How he managed to do it? I have no idea. I can only guess that he faked me out in someway, all I know is that one moment I was running away from and the next his arms were wrapped around me and he was picking me up.

"KENDALL! PUT ME DOWN!" I shouted as I started to try and kick him to get him to put me down.

It wasn't going very well and Kendall was going full speed ahead to the water's crashing waves. After a few seconds of running, how he could run that fast, I will never know, before I knew it, we were in the water. My feet weren't touching it, but Kendall was and he kept bringing me down lower to try and get a wave to crash on me. I continued to kick him like crazy, and finally I hit his knee, that was the final straw, and Kendall toppled. I realized when I landed in the water with Kendall on top of me, that maybe kicking him to make him let go of me probably wasn't the best idea.

"I'm still not going to tell you." I said sticking my tongue out to Kendall after he stood up. He offered me a hand to help him up, and I did quite possibly the most cliched thing that could be done. I took his hand and used all of my energy and strength to pull him back down into the waves.

"You did not just do that." Kendall said as he wiped his head out of the lukewarm water of the ocean.

"I think I did." I said as I hoped up.

I started to run around in the shallow surf, and before long Kendall was chasing me around again. We continued to chase each other in the waves and on the actual beach, for a few hours. Once the sun started to go down however, we realized that it might be a good idea, and headed back to my backpack, which was still in the same place, and remained untouched.

I opened by back pack and put my boots back on. Once I felt save walking on the wooden boards of an LA boardwalk, Kendall and I started to head back to the Palm Woods. As we walked and joked I took my phone out of my backpack and saw that I had about ten texts from my Dad. I read all of them quickly and they basically said the same thing: "Get back to the Palm Woods as soon as you can, we are having dinner with Jen, Katie, and the boys."

"Come on Kendall, we need to hurry up, Dad texted me ten times letting me know that the two of us are eating dinner with your family, and it is a Sunday, there is no way in hell I am missing pasta night." I said as looked over to him with a smile.

"You really don't forget anything do you?" Kendall asked rhetorically, shaking his head jokingly.

"Nope, I'm like an elephant!" I answered quickly with a huge goofy grin as we headed down the streets of LA.

* * *

><p>"I still deny that I willingly chose to be the pink ranger because Kendall was being the white ranger." I said with a laugh during dinner.<p>

All eight of us were crowded around the small table in the apartment of the BTR boys and Kendall's mom and sister. The table was itty bitty and it was packed with people and pasta. Jen had decided to bring up every funny story she could think of from when Kendall and I were kids, this included the Halloween when the two of us dressed up as Power Rangers. Which was funny because the memory was fresh in my mind from watching old home movies.

"You say that you didn't understand the fact that the Pink Ranger and the White Ranger were a couple now, but back then you totally and completely did." Dad began.

"I did not." I answered stubbornly.

All of us had already talked about the first day of kindergarten, Kendall, Logan, James, Carlos, and I had been forced to pose for three hundred and a half pictures outside of James' house by his crazy mother. The year that Kendall and I had dressed up as Power Rangers for Halloween, Logan, James, and Carlos had also been rangers. James had been the Red Ranger, Logan had been the Blue Ranger, and Carlos had been the Black Ranger. With the recall of each of the memories all of us laughed like crazy, I don't think I have laughed this much since I was a lot younger, being around the boys just created laughter, they were all just such a happy group that it was impossible to not feel happy around them.

"Manth, you told me that you wanted to be the Pink Ranger, because Kendall was being the White Ranger, and the Pink Ranger was in love with the White Ranger." Dad answered back laughing.

"I did not." I replied with more stubbornness than before.

"Manth, I know you did it is probably on tape somewhere." Dad insisted.

"It is not on the Halloween tape from that year. I know I was watching it recently." I replied and stuck my tongue out before I went back to eating.

"Why on God's green earth were you watching old home movies?" Kendall began to ask me. "You pretty much hate them." He added.

When I was little I hated to watch videos of myself, or even look at pictures of myself, they always made me feel really uncomfortable, and right after Mom died, I refused to watch any home videos, and I tried to smash a few of the tapes, up until we moved to Texas, Kendall would help me in my attempts to destroy the tapes. Over the years I've gotten way better at looking at pictures of myself, but I still don't really like to watch videos of myself.

"Our cable was out, I'd had a long day at work, there was nothing better to do. It was our 6th birthdays, that Halloween, and that Thanksgiving. You know right when I got my first guitar, we dressed up as Power Rangers, and Mom got sick." I answered, a little bit softer at the end when I mentioned my mother.

"I remember that guitar! And our silly songs! Oh the good times." Kendall replied with a laugh, skimming over my mention of Mom just like he knew I wanted him to.

"Yes Kendall, that's what childhood is." I answered sarcastically and ate some of my bread.

"So Manth, how have things been going in Texas, it's so hard to believe that I haven't seen you in person for nearly ten years." Jen said trying to prevent one of me and Kendall's bantering/bickering matches before it began.

"Things have been good, really good actually. I work, or worked I guess at this music store, and I got to teach little kids how to play various instruments, which is really fun, especially when it is their first time ever playing any instrument." I began. "And Texas is beautiful, that's the only way I can think of to describe it." I finished with a laugh, thinking about the hot state that I now called home.

"It's great out there. The climate took a short while to get used to, but everyone is friendly and nice in the town we live in. The Newspaper there is great too, it's small but wonderful." Dad intruded adding more details, details that he knew Jen would care more about.

"Are you going to come with us to the recording studio tomorrow Manth?" Logan asked while Dad and Jen continued to discuss things in Texas, and move on to the topic of things in Minnesota.

"Yeah probably." I said with a slight laugh and a wink to the rest of the boys when Kendall looked away for a moment.

I had been in LA for less than twenty four hours, and Kendall already seemed to be on his way to getting out this rut, I just couldn't wait to really surprise him tomorrow, when I showed up at the Roque Records before him and the boys, and was working on my own music. I could not wait to see the look on his face.

* * *

><p><strong>an: well there is chapter two. Manth is in LA and just about ready to roque (hee hee, puns). Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was shot in Valencia, California according to IMDb, not Australia or New Zealand as most people are under the impression of, however IMDb might be wrong, so if it is please let me know. You guys are getting this chapter earlier than I planned because I am leaving for the beach tomorrow and will be gone for a week and will be unable to write, so this ought to tide you over. Well that's all, I hope y'all enjoyed this and remember to review!**

**xoxo,**

**Lexi**


	3. Surprise

3. Surprise:

The next morning at 8 o'clock sharp dad jolted me awake by shaking me back and forth. When this just got a mean groan from me he pulled all my blankets off my bed. This not only pissed me off but woke me up, and helped me to realize exactly what was going to happen today. Today was the day that I get to reveal to my childhood best friend, who was quickly becoming my regular old best friend after a day of goofing off and catching up, how I was here in LA.

I got out of bed and took a quick shower. After my shower I dried my hair using a round brush to try and keep the curls in tact. Then I got dressed. I put on one of my favorite dresses, which falls a few inches above my knee and is a gray color with lace on the top and a belt that goes around the waist. I wore my boots that I wear with everything with it, and put on my mother's engagement ring, and her old wooden cross necklace. After Mom died I had gotten both of these things, and there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't wear them. I also put on a pair of rose quartz stud earrings, and a pair of hoops. I put on my usual amount of make-up, consisting of eyeliner, lash lengthening mascara, foundation, cover-up, eyeshadow, and lipstick, grabbed my guitar and was ready to go.

"Morning Daddy." I said with a huge smile on my face as Dad handed me a plate of eggs and bacon and a glass of orange juice.

"Morning Manth. Are you ready for today?" He asked curiously as he began to eat his own plate of eggs and bacon.

"As ready as I am ever going to be." I answered.

"You don't sound so sure about that." Dad replied with a soft laugh.

We ate the remainder of our breakfasts in quite, with Dad making a few jokes to try and calm my nerves. After we finished eating breakfast, the two of us headed down to the Palm Woods lobby and to the car that Roque Records had sent over for us. Dad and I were supposed to be in the recording studio and ready to go by 9 O'clock, which is exactly when Big Time Rush (aka the boys) get there every day for their stuff.

The car drove us to Roque Records and once there Dad and I found ourselves in the office of the once great selling record producer Gustavo Roque, who specializes in boy bands.

"Mr. Roque it is a pleasure to finally meet you." Dad said politely as we sat down in Gustavo's office to have our first official meeting with him. Gustavo's personal assistant Kelly was also in the office, with a genuine smile plastered on her face.

"It is nice to meet you Mr. Summers." Gustavo began in a tone that seemed much to polite based off of the stories that the boys had told us about Gustavo at dinner last night. "It is also nice to finally meet you Samantha." Gustavo said in that same overly polite voice.

"Same here, I actually prefer to be called Manth." I said as politely as I could, fidgeting with my guitar slightly in a nervous fashion.

I had recorded myself singing for years, but this was different. Recording myself singing with a guitar on a webcam and then posting it to youtube was completely different than singing in front of a record producer, my childhood best friend, his best friends, the record producer's P.A., my dad, and Gustavo's boss who could decide in a second if he wanted to send me back to Texas and let this three month trial demo period just fall through. It was nerve racking to say the least.

"That is an interesting name for Samantha." Gustavo's P.A., Kelly I think, asked in a slightly too polite and serious tone to try and break the silence that my correcting Gustavo had caused.

I laughed slightly to myself before turning to look at Dad, who had a smile on his face as well, it was a great little story to tell people, and it just about always got a laugh, and Dad loved to tell it. "Go for it Daddy." I added with a nervous laugh.

Dad caught onto the fact that if he made me tell the story I was going to end up being unable to speak as my nerves were getting worse and worse.

"It's all my fault." Kendall's voice said as the door to the recording studio opened.

I turned around faster than I though possible and saw Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos entering the recording studio, only Kendall had a look of shock on his face.

"When we were little, like really little, and had just learned to say words other than Mama, and Dada, and No, we started to try and attempt to say each other's names. Manth of course easily shortened my first name to Ken, and was able to say Kendall easily by the time we were three and a half, I had a bit more difficulty with saying Samantha though. So I tried to shorten it, I also had a slight lisp as a kid, so 's's were a problem, it started off just being Mantha, and then it became Manth, and once I could actually say Samantha, I never did, I just always said Manth. What can I say? It stuck." Kendall paused with a laugh, remembering parts of our childhood. The reminiscent look on Dad's face, and the soft smile on mine, assured me that all of us were thinking back to me and Kendall's early childhood, the days before Mom got sick and died.

"And then of course you have this bonehead over here." I said giving Logan a slight nudge. "Who heard Kendall call me Manth on the first day of kindergarten and proceeded to call me Math up until the day I moved to Texas." I added with a laugh.

"It isn't my fault that every time someone called you Manth I didn't hear the end, and by the time I got corrected it was tool ate!" Logan replied in an aghast, yet joking tone.

"Are you just visiting us today Manth?" Kendall asked, bringing the conversation back to the topic that I was sure had been on his mind since he had arrived in the recording studio and saw me there.

"Just wait Kendall, you'll see." I answered with a smirk as a tall man with white hair walked into the recording stuido.

"Let's make this quick Gustavo, I don't have all day, and I can tell whether or not someone is auto tuned within two bars of a song." The tall man said. I got the feeling that he was a man used to being in charge of everything, even those things that are uncontrollable. "Ms. Summers, if you would please enter the room there and begin the song when you are ready." The man added turning to me with a very fake smile.

"Um... okay." I said my nerves coming back. Butterflies flying all over my stomach making it turn and turn over and over again.

Dad gave my hand a quick squeeze that was meant to reassure me and to wish me luck. I nodded back at him, and walked with my guitar into one of the larger rooms in the recording studio. I pulled a stool up to the microphone and sat down on it. I started to strum my guitar, then play the opening cords of the song before beginning to sing...

"_Friday night beneath the stars,__  
><em>_in a field behind your yard,__  
><em>_you and I are paintin'__ pictures in the sky.__  
><em>_And sometimes we don't say a thing;__  
><em>_just listen to the crickets sing.__  
><em>_Everything I need is right here by my side.__  
><em>_And I know everything about you__  
><em>_I don't wanna live without you._

_I'm only up when you're not down.__  
><em>_Don't wanna fly if yo__u're still on the ground.__  
><em>_It's like no matter what I do.__  
><em>_Well you drive me crazy half the time;__  
><em>_the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true.__  
><em>_And I'm only me when I'm with you.__  
><em>_Just a small town boy and girl__  
><em>_livin' in a crazy wor__ld.__  
><em>_Tryin' to figure out what is and isn't true.__  
><em>_And I don't try to hide my tears.__  
><em>_The secrets or my deepest fears.__  
><em>_Through it all nobody gets me like you do.__  
><em>_And you know everything about me.__  
><em>_You say that you can't live without me._

_I'm only up when you'r__e not down.__  
><em>_Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.__  
><em>_It's like no matter what I do.__  
><em>_Well you drive me crazy half the time;__  
><em>_the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true.__  
><em>_And I'm only me when I'm with you._

_When I'm with anyb__ody else it's so hard to be myself.__  
><em>_Only you can tell._

_That I'm only up when you're not down.__  
><em>_Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground.__  
><em>_It's like no matter what I do.__  
><em>_Well you drive me crazy half the time;__  
><em>_the other half I'm only trying to let you kn__ow that what I feel is true.__  
><em>_And I'm only me__  
><em>_Who I wanna be__  
><em>_Well, I'm only me when I'm with you__  
><em>_With you__  
><em>_Uh huh__  
><em>_Yeah"_ I sang, finishing my song, making sure not to look in anyone's eyes the whole time, just focusing on my guitar my singing.

This song had been inspired by my childhood, and one of the small songs that Kendall and I had written jokingly and lovingly when we were little. The childhood song was more of "you're my best friend, and I'm you're best friend," repeated over and over again. This song had been inspired by this, and one of my fondest childhood memories.

It was the night that I had told Kendall that Dad and I were moving to Texas, Mom had died a few months prior to this and I was not even close to getting over her death. Kendall was in shock over the whole fact that I was moving, the two of us had been through what seemed like everything together back then, his dad going MIA during a tour of duty with the Navy, Mom getting sick, Mom dying, Kendall's mom trying to put back the pieces when the Navy told her that her husband was as good as dead, it was a lot to go through as little kids, so we coped as we always did, a sleepover-camp out at Kendall's house with lots of juice boxes and Oreos.

Dad had set up the tent for us as he always had that night, and Jen was watching us from the deck as she always did, waiting to join us in the tent until we were both asleep, she did not like the idea of the two of us sleeping out there by ourselves which was completely understandable to my now almost seventeen year old mind, but back then it was as if she was being overbearing and overprotective.

Kendall and I weren't quite ready to go into the tent and crash from our mounting sugar highs yet, so instead we decided to lay on our backs in Kendall's small yard and look up at the stars, it was then that Kendall said something truly profound and astounding. He said, well as best as I can remember it, "I don't know what I am going to do with you gone Manth. I'm only me when I'm with you." It took me many years to realize the gravity of that statement, and how profound it was, especially coming out of the mouth of a seven year old, and the moment I realized that, the rest of the song just flew from my brain to my paper, and finally to my guitar. It had been that night after Logan called saying that Kendall needed my help getting out of his rut that this happened, and it was one of my best songs by far.

"Well the youtube quality was not faked. I can tell you that much. Welcome to Roque Records Samantha." The boss man said with a smile as he motioned me out of the room. "I'm Griffin, the owner, and your boss." He added holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Griffin, I actually go by Manth, no one has called me Samantha since I was little. This is my dad." I said in response shaking his hand and pushing my Dad towards the boss man.

"Scott Summers." Dad answered with a smile and shook his hand.

"A pleasure to meet you. Well I have a meeting to get to, so I'll be leaving. I shall see you all soon." Griffin said with a fake smile and exited the recording studio just as swiftly as he had entered.

"Is he always like that?" I asked the boys, Gustavo, and Kelly.

"Yes." They all groaned in unison.

* * *

><p><strong>an: sorry this took so long, but I just got back from the beach and I started to write this right away. I am also not really completely happy with this chapter, so I apologize if you hate it. I have the end idea for this, but I'm still trying to work out how to get there, so this might be one of the last updates for awhile. The song that Manth sings is "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" by Taylor Swift. I hope y'all enjoyed this and remember to review!**

**xoxo,**

**Lexi**

**p.s. I do finally have an update schedule for all of my fics, I will update on Sundays and Mondays. :)**


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